Imagine you have a farm to produce grass-fed beef for your restaurant. And imagine you double the size of your herd just before a pandemic shuts down restaurants, and business is curtailed for the foreseeable future.
Joshua Welch doesn’t have to imagine. He’s living it.
Welch’s farm, JW Beef in Stonington, Connecticut, is about miles away from Graze Burger, the fast- casual restaurant in Westerly, which he co-owns.
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There they serve their 100% grass-fed beef burgers with hand-cut French fries cooked in beef tallow instead of vegetable oils. There are house-made dipping sauces and frozen-custard shakes. Those drinks are blended with Pennsylvania custard that contains 10% butterfat and 1.4% egg yolks. They also serve what co-owner David Parr calls a “great chicken sandwich.”
Welch raises mostly American Aberdeen cattle and a small group of Herefords. He doubled the number to 180 cows early this year. There are 150 right now.
“We are hoping to build something that is sustainable in an economic way,” Welch said. “Demand from the restaurant has helped the farm grow.”
They describe it as “farm to bun.”
Welch said he was luckier than most when then pandemic hit. Because he has long been working with Rhode Island Beef and Veal Inc., in Johnston, he was able to process his meat. Other farms were not so prepared.
They use the whole animal to make a ground beef blend that includes prime cuts like the tenderloin, sirloin and rib-eye.
Graze Burger was able to stay open for takeout. The fast-casual style of restaurant, at which diners order at the counter and then pick up their food, lends itself to success for that model. They also had a delivery service.
Now they have seating for 16 on their patio. Only three customers at a time are permitted inside to order. But things are okay.
The restaurant -- which has third co-owner, Kevin Bowdler -- got a Paycheck Protection Program loan through Washington Trust.
“We were able to take this money and get people back to work,” Welch said. Owning their building is also a help.
The sustainable model also extends to staff.
When Welch talked about Graze in an interview this month, he said his staff was making $21 an hour.
“I think paying people right is the way you deliver customer satisfaction,” he said. “You have to pay people right.”
Welch has been raising pigs this summer, too, and using the pork at Bridge and the bacon at Graze.
“But this isn’t a major emphasis for us,” he said. Continuing will depend on a few factors.
“People like the pork -- hot Italian sausage, chops, the bacon, etc. -- but our mission is really to produce the highest-quality grass-fed beef possible.”
Grass-fed beef is leaner and contains more omega-3 fatty acids than conventional, grain- and corn-fed beef. The meat is also high in a beneficial fat called conjugated linoleic acid, thought to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Grass is all Welch’s cows eat, “and the occasional weed!”
Graze Burgers, 127 Granite St., Westerly, (401) 992-8223, grazeri.com. Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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The Link LonkAugust 26, 2020 at 05:11AM
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Graze Burger keeps on with its own grass-fed beef - The Providence Journal
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